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What did they do to you? Did they stop you from taking pictures of them?

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Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

It's the power of suspense..... we don't know what will happen until someone gives out a preview.

__________________

Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

No suspense intended, it's just that I am extremely tired (understand that 14 hours standing in lines, plus walking with all those doujinshi back home (~30 minutes added time), after touring one third of the country for one month IS VERY TIRING for an old geezer like me )... plus I want to rethink the negative comments I was about to make from their perspective instead of ranting about a couple of unfortunate behaviors, like 2/4-chaners... and in any case, it wasn't as bad as the bimbos in AGeHa or the pimps of Shinjuku

Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

Dang it Avalon, you c(XD LOL)-block Shirou and Reinforce, but don't protect his mind in other ways? What is wrong, you woman?
Friendship, be made! Magical power, gather! Starlight Breaker.... this world!

I was not seriously considering donating blood, after spending 14 hours standing in lines, rather another approach

Of course not. Only meant to explain to bhl88 why it wouldn't even work in theory.

In any case, most of those who attended that special giveaway definitely aimed for a YA resale anyway, unless they really had nothing much to get in C83 (that or had some sort of tunnel vision for very few stuff / post comiket doujin shops).

I really hate it when the items that i want are doubled/tripled in price on the auctions compared to what they originally costed in comiket. I already had to spend nearly $600 (not including the shipping, handling and fees for the auction proxies plus the possible customs costs that will give me an headache later) on items that costed $300-$400 in total

Everything I got was for ~€300, maybe a little more, since I suspect one vendor mixed a 5,000 bill for 10,000

Anyway, should I have bought them it from Tora no Ana in Akihabara it would be €500-1000 (new, not used)

Should I have ordered them (ignoring that half would be technically illegal in Europe and the UK*) it would cost €2000+ (excluding shipping and import tax)

This also pissed me off... Tora no Ana aside, those resellers buying 10 and 20 copies were a menace... Because of a jerk like that, I missed Udon-ya's new MonHan EroHon... picking the last 10 copies with 4 persons in front of me

* Because real kids rights there are degraded to those fictional images

Details about the experience (since today I realized why otaku are loathed, as well as why in general their country is so bloody awesome)...

The smell of otaku sweat must have been awesome, eh

Quote:

Originally Posted by hyl

I really hate it when the items that i want are doubled/tripled in price on the auctions compared to what they originally costed in comiket. I already had to spend nearly $600 (not including the shipping, handling and fees for the auction proxies plus the possible customs costs that will give me an headache later) on items that costed $300-$400 in total

Damn, I know stuff gets more expensive on the net, but I didn't expect the prices to go up THAT much...hm.

Anyways, hopefully I could go one day...not enough funds right now, sadly

First of all the last day was the most crowed as expected (some photos here), considering the circles participating... visitors reach 150-200 thousand

So I woke up as planned, but couldn't catch the first train to the Big Sight, because:

I neeeded a lot of caffeine and nicotine to battle the waiting line

Needed internet to check the last information from circles in order to have an efficient plan

So I left home a little after 5:00, reached Kokusai-Tenjijō station around 6:00 and followed the staff instruction and signs for the East Halls entrance waiting area about 7:00... crossing a traffic light on the way was funny with staff members counting how many can pass safely each time and without obstructing the traffic, also on the way there were toilets and staff constantly reminded everyone when and where they should go.

So I arrived about an hour later then I could, but that also meant that 50-100 thousand people were there before me, and that that many (probably more) behind me

The area was a huge open space east from the East Halls next to the ocean, where we formed groups of groups of about 5 thousand persons and waited for comiket to open at 10:00... well actually from 9:00 the first groups were assisted towards the main area and spread across all six entrances (if I understood correctly).

Waiting there for 3 hours wasn't that bad... it was cold (~5°C), but the humidity and wind made it quite hard, thankfully you could leave your group and get something to drink or eat from 10 stands, there were also many garbage bins, and enough portable toilets. None even considered to break the lines, which made the staff's tough job a lot easier. They were also very informative about what to and not do. These aside there were some violation... for example a dozen were advised to stop running (it can be potentially very dangerous with so many people cramped together), as well as no smoking, despite no visible signs, when I saw half a dozen japanese smoking near the shore, I tried too with my portable ashtray (in other words empty coffee can), but a staff member informed me (and warned them) about the prohibition... nonetheless he was very polite and understanding when I tried to explain to him that there are no signs.

Anyway, I managed to enter the doujinshi area 30 minutes after the gates opened, so since the most popular circles had already huge waiting lines (but also a lot more copies), I decided to first visit the less popular circles that might sell out the few copies they brought, which proved to be a wise choice, after getting the first 20 or so publications, I moved to huge waiting queues had to wait 30-45 minutes for Ishikei, and 80-90 minutes for Asanagi Then I tried Kizuki Aruchuu, but missed the last doujinshi by a lame reseller, as I have already mentioned

By 13:00 the situation crowd-wise had become a lot more humane (like the largest expos I have visited while in Europe, which then seemed unbearble to me, usually because of the incompetent organizing). Also authors and their friends were more in the mood to chat since not many people were queuing up. The seller and another fan in the Ino'ue Kiyoshiro / Nekoi Mii desk for example had some interesting (to me) info about the authors and their history. CyoCyo started talking to me in english, when I mixed up the cost of my purchases and we had a little chat about his latest works... generally despite the effort required (after almost a month running around the country) it really worth it, and that even without having any time to check the cosplayers, as well as without counting the purchases themselves. The organization was superb, staff and vendors helpful and understanding, attendants well-behaving.

But, except CyoCyo and one fan, none could speak any language except Japanese, there was no sign in English/Korean/Chinese as is the case in most transportation and sights... I really doubt that someone without at least basic knowledge of the language can not get overwhelmed by the seer amount of rules and procedures (particularly their ways of forming and moving lines is very counter-intuitive, yet efficient).

Also unless someone has prepared a plan where to go, he won't be able to get more than two or three new doujinshi... and even that won't work if one wants all the popular releases, most people formed groups of 3-5 persons and divided the lines each was waiting to get multiple copies (which cuts down the waiting time for the rest of us). Doujinshi are sold in Comiket from 1/2 to 1/20th of the price you get them from resellers.

Now moving one to the annoying parts... the smell wasn't so bad as long as one wasn't close to the girls' toilets... being winter helped, I guess in summer it would be a bigger problem.

What was more annoying was that some idiots carried suitcases or long bags so when cramping together through gates, they really did not care how many get hit and stumble, as long as they brought them in... pushing was at the same level as rush hour in Yamanote line here, the Central line in London or any big station in Paris

A bigger issue was passing through waiting lines to reach another area, usually you excuse yourself, the guys in front and back take a half-step back and front, so you can side-step with minimal pushing... but yesterday there was on jerk not only didn't didn't take that step, he more or less told me that there was no exit through his line, despite a huge sign writing exit (next to him), and several people having already exited through his line.

Reading signs is another issue, since many are hand written and in a distance, slowly waved to different direction. Now add to all these that my eyesight is horrible and japanese is the fifth language I have learned... I have to get close to read them... so this brings me to the second jerk who was waiting in a long tightly pack line, there was another one on the other side, and I just spotted my target circle about 5 meters away... now because of the lines on either side I could not tell if they were waiting for the circle I wanted to go or another one, meanwhile I was half blocking all the people passing through... so I try to read the sign of his line to see either the booth number or the circle name written with small letters in the corner... but instead of turning the sign towards me or answering my question, he started pushing me away and kept telling me that this is the middle of the line... so embarrassed (because I have accidentally broken a line before by misreading signs) I moved quickly to the end of the line, when I finally was able to see the circle name, which was the wrong one... moved back and finally located the desk that sold the doujinshi with only three person queuing for it.

Resellers... I have already mentioned how annoying they are... anyway, point being that to people not sharing this hobby, the behaviour I just described is beyond unacceptable... add to that the appearance that some intentionally have, which doesn't bother me personally, but the bimbos of Ageha would find it repulsive... add to that the lack of fitness most otaku suffer from... and the hobby itself is questionable to begin with... and that understanding and analyzing is not the most common thing people do... that's what I meant that now I understand where the bad rep is coming from

Anyway, despite the few complaints, it was an awesome experience, doujinshi and merchandise quality was of stellar and very cheap. I will definitely try to visit to comic1 and natsucomi this year too (except from the smaller events like commitia sunshine comic, etc).

Nice write up and pics Malkuth. Reminds me of when I went to a couple big conventions but Comiket looks more insane to me. I've seen pics of it before and only heard small talks but I like personal tales.
I hate those suitcase like bags too, school kids have those here and they've been a huge annoyance in public transportation and while walking packed streets. Some adults were already using those small rolling travel cases or whatever everywhere but everyone fifth person or so has something on wheels dragging behind them now.

I made note of those rolling bags in my blog about Comiket too. I just want to point out that for people with serious back problems, a bag on wheels is a necessity in everyday life. Comiket is obviously a different animal - with those kinds of crowds they're a terrible idea and a menace. But a lot of people use them on the streets because they have to, not to be assholes.